Minseok was fast. He managed to free his pinned arm and reciprocate the face-to-the-brick wall technique that had been used on him – all while remaining relatively silent. He kept his grip on the man’s neck. Even without seeing his face he had recognized the smell, it was one of the wolves that had shown up earlier that morning with Luhen or Luhian or whatever his name was.

The two hybrids remained in that tense position for what seemed like twenty minutes, long enough for the police to make their way down the street and away from their immediate vicinity. When the coast was clear Minseok released him.

“Why are you here?” He asked, glaring at the man who was now rubbing his neck. His face was scratched up and bleeding too from the rough shove against the brick. He wasn’t a particularly strong looking wolf, it surprised Minseok he had enough strength to push him against the alley wall to be honest.

“Nice to see you too. Luhan sent me.”

Of course he did, Minseok thought. Of course the arrogant bastard sent his people to lurk around the neighborhood. Hell, he was probably the one who sent the cops too.

“Leave.”

“He knew the police were asking around so he asked me to follow them and make sure you guys were okay- if they came into your neighborhood and all.” The man answered, apparently not hearing Minseok’s order to get the hell out, “Seems there are some problems anymore. Someone has the Cops attention and…well, you know that is not good for any of us. Jongdae by the way” The man held out a hand. He sure was a talker, Minseok thought.

Not bothering to shake the offered hand Minseok bit his bottom lip. So now Mr. Better-than-you wolf was sending his people to check up on Minseok’s pack? The nerve of some people.

“As you can see, we are alright.” Minseok spat out. HE left the alleyway and stalked back to the pack’s flat, leaving Jongdae to trail after him.

“Well, yeah, I see that. But do you have any idea what set the cops off? Have you guys heard of anything or anyone in the neighborhood?”

“Nope. Tell your leader if he is so powerful that he can keep tabs on the Cops he can figure it out for himself.”

“Geez….why in the heck does he like you again?” Jongdae muttered under his breath, getting sick of the one sided conversation he had been having with this stubborn baby faced wolf.

“What?” Minseok whirled around. He thought he had heard the man’s words correctly and he did not like it. They had reached the stone steps leading up to the Cloud Mountain Pack’s flat.

“Nothing. Um, can I come in and clean up my face? I mean you slammed me against a wall and all…” Jongdae smiled, pointing at his scraped face.

“You pushed me against a wall first!” Minseok responded.

“Hyung! I-“

Minseok groaned. Of course Tao had to make an appearance at that moment.

“Tao, help him clean up.” Minseok started up the steps, ignoring Tao’s look of confusion. Jongdae trailed after him.

“Um, sure hyung. We are just going to let him in?”

Minseok just nodded. Jongdae stepping into their house was the least of his worries at this point, unfortunately.

***

Jongdae was actually a pretty nice guy…well, wolf. He liked to talk and loved to laugh. He seemed amicable enough and he immediately got on with everyone he met. At least such is how Minseok saw him. It was already late morning and Jongdae was still at the flat.

Jongdae had cleaned up his face, but in the process he had begun a serious discussion with Tao about the merits of Naruto. Their conversation had only become more intense with Suho waking up (without a hangover, which surprised Minseok) and joining in, which took a turn towards Mangas and then there was no getting them to shut up.

“So you have no idea what set the cops off?” He finally decided it was time for Tao and Suho’s new buddy to answer a few questions and then get the hell out -even if he was a nice guy.

“No. Luhan Hyung thought maybe you guys had some idea or did something…”

“We wouldn’t do anything to draw attention to ourselves!” Tao cut in.

Like it was planned Chanyeol took that opportunity to burst into the flat- home after a long day and night of playing with his latest con victim. 

“Hyung! I did it. Completely took him for everything he was worth! Even left him tied to a bed! I was able- wait, who is this guy?” Chanyeol stopped mid-sentence and stared at Jongdae.

“Yeah, don’t draw attention to yourselves” Jongdae muttered. He stood and extended a hand to the newcomer “Jongdae. You must be…Chanyeol”

Chanyeol looked from Jongdae to Minseok back to Jongdae. What was going on?

***

He twirled the pencil through his fingers absentmindedly. The noise of students chatting, a businessman on his phone talking up his latest deal, a couple arguing over something petty in hushed tones all faded to the background. He was too preoccupied- with chubby cheeks and that anger that flashed in those big eyes. In the words “Take your papers and get the hell out of my neighborhood human”

“Lu Ge”

Luhan snapped out of it. He was sitting alone at a corner table at Angle Café, one of his textbooks open in front of him. It had been a long time since he had stopped reading or studying.

“Yeah Yixing?”

“He’s here.” Yixing motioned over his shoulder. Luhan craned his neck to see the older man standing at the counter. Yixing gave his pack leader a friendly smile before going back to work.

Luhan muttered a thank you before motioning for the older man to come over to the table. He greeted Luhan with a handshake before sitting down.

“How have you been?” Luhan asked.

“Alive. I would ask how you have been but it seems your request kind of answered that for me.”

“Yeah- were you able to find anything out?” Luhan asked, his eyes wide and hopeful.

The older gentleman nodded, retrieving a packet from his worn coat. He plopped it down on the table, pushing it towards Luhan.

“There is a lot and it isn’t the most pleasant thing to read. I don’t think he is a threat though. Seems they have been around for a while, honestly I am surprised you hadn’t met him sooner.” The old man answered, “Which leads me to my own question. Can I meet him?”

Luhan hadn’t expected that. He had known the old wolf since he had arrived in Seoul. The man was less a hybrid and more a man, an old soul that had lived in the city for an undetermined amount of time. He was a strong lone wolf who had connections Luhan could never begin to fully understand. He was the best person to ask for information because he could always get it (how was a question Luhan never really wanted answered).

“Yeah, I mean if you really want to meet him I would have thought you would have already. I am not sure you should be asking me for permission.”

The old man smiled slightly, flashing an odd expression. “True. But since you are the one asking about him I figured you had some kind of plan.”

Luhan felt a knot in his stomach at the words. What was his plan?  He stammered “Well, I do, but he isn’t really cooperating right now so do what you want.”

The old man chuckled. So that was it. He had figured as much.

“I will. Take it easy little one” The old man stood and gave a slight bow before leaving. Luhan watched him go, eying the packet sitting on the table with a mixture of apprehension and excitement.

***

Sehun found himself back on a certain swing set, tracing figure eights in the sand with his shoes again. Why was he here again? Stupid hulking hybrid Tao and his stupid face which made him think maybe he would come back to this place. Stupid guy that said he would be friends but decided to not give Sehun his number even if Sehun never asked for it. Stupid guy with the stupid pack leader who had that stupid gummy smile and stupid fashion sense and stupi-

“Sehun!”

“Tao!” Sehun practically leapt from the swing before catching himself. Act calm Sehun, act calm. He plopped back down and tried to look disinterested, “What are you doing here?”

“I was out for a walk. What are you doing here?” Tao smiled. Why did he kind of look like a cat? Sehun wondered. Cats were yucky, horrible things, how could a hybrid look like one of tho-oh yeah, Tao had asked a question.

“You know. Just hanging out. I was really busy before and thought I could take a few minutes to just sit and chill.” Sehun brushed a hand through his hair, trying to look casual about it.

“Oh. Well, good thing I ran into you.”

“Really?!” Sehun blurted, “I mean, yeah. What a coincidence.”

Tao smirked, “Jongdae was over at our place this morning. He forgot this.” Tao handed him a dragon ball card. Sehun did not look amused.

“Oh, yeah. Wait- why was he over?”

“I guess your fearless leader sent him or something. I like him, Jongdae hyung I mean. He is a really nice guy.”

“Yeah. He’s great” Sehun hoped the sarcasm had not been too obvious. He liked Jongdae but there was something about the way Tao was praising him made Sehun feel funny.

“Sehun, we should go get something to eat. I know our leaders are not exactly friends but it is nice to meet other hybrids after so many years. I don’t know if this is weird for you or anything, but since we agreed to be friends I thought I would ask.”

“Yeah- we should totally get something to eat. Great idea” Sehun stood up.

Tao smiled again, he threw an arm over Sehun’s shoulders, “Let’s go Hun-ah”.

Sehun thought maybe, just maybe, his heart did a little leap at the pet name. But that was impossible. Right? He liked Luhan after all, not this stupid face cat guy with the stupid leader and the stupid pack and the-

“I think we are going to be good friends Hun-ah”

“Me too.” Sehun knew he could not punch himself in the face at the moment, but he promised he would as soon as he got home. Hard.

***

So Ra stood at the entrance to the Eastern Dawn Pack’s library. It was all dark wood and leather, a very masculine place. So Ra had redecorated a majority of the estate’s rooms when the pack had moved in, but she had given this one to the pack leader to do with as he wanted. His Father had a library when they had lived in the forest, in their far less extravagant home. It was his room, his sanctum, and So Ra had a feeling his son would appreciate something similar. He did, spending a lot of time in the room when he was home.

She smiled wistfully while looking at the figure seated in one of the oversized chairs. He was engrossed in a document, his head bent down in concentration. He looked a lot like his Father, but there was a lot of his Mother there too. In his delicately upturned nose and his cheekbones So Ra saw his Mother.

So Ra stared for a few moments more before entering the room, hesitant to interfere. But something told her the Pack leader had more than a few things on his mind and might welcome a chat with the pack elder.

When Luhan heard her enter he lifted his gaze. It was then she saw the tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Lu, what is it?” She asked, kneeling down in front of him and taking his head in her hands out of concern, much like a Mother would do with their small child.

“Aunt…I…” Luhan gently took her hands from his face. So Ra glanced at the document he had been reading. So that was it.

“Did you get his entire profile?” She asked, knowing it had to do with Luhan’s latest obsession.

“It is so terrible what they did to him…” Luhan felt another tear make its way down his cheek. He was usually a lot stronger than this. He wasn’t to cry easily, but Minseok’s file would be hard for anyone to take with a smile.

“Stop reading it. “ So Ra took the document from Luhan, “You don’t need to know all the details Luhan.”

Luhan just sat, looking at the paper the pack elder had confiscated.

“Seems your meeting did not go as planned?”

Luhan nodded, “They won’t join us and I am pretty sure he hates me”

“Luhan, realize that they have been on their own for some time. It won’t be easy.”

“Then why won’t I feel better until they join the pack? Why does it matter so much to me?”

So Ra smiled sadly. She could tell him outright, but he needed to figure it out for himself.

“I don’t know. That is something you need to discover for yourself.”

Luhan hated her answer. A lot.

***

A few days passed, then a week from when the Eastern Dawn pack had shown up at the Cloud Mountain Pack’s doorstep. The police hadn’t shown up in the neighborhood again and Minseok was starting to believe everything was getting back to normal. Well, as normal as five wolf human hybrids hiding their identity could be. The peace was short-lived.

It started out as a rough pounding on the door to their flat. Then it was a shout like “Yah!”

Things got worse with Chanyeol whispering “It’s him”

“Who?” Minseok asked, his brows scrunched in confusion.

“That guy, the last one I conned.”

“How does he know where we live?!” Minseok asked, angry Chanyeol could be so stupid.

“I don’t know!” Chanyeol exclaimed, throwing his hands up to emphasize his surprise.

And the final straw was delivered with the person on the other side of the door letting out a string of expletives alongside the words “You wolf bastard! I called the cops and don’t think I am going to let this go you freak!”

Everyone froze, all eyes darting to Chanyeol.

“He knows! How in the hell does he KNOW!” Minseok felt like killing Chanyeol right then and there. This was not good, not good at all. Now what were they going to do.